Mundipharma International, the European pharma firm specialising in pain, oncology and asthma treatments, has appointed Portland Health as its retained comms agency.

The agency’s health arm, which began operating this month, has been given the task of managing corporate comms as Mundipharma seeks to expand across Europe.

Portland Health will be responsible for communicating Mundipharma’s business story to potential employees and encouraging them to join the company, as well as potential clients and partner companies.

A core part of the agency’s work will be to raise the profile of Mundipharma, which recently launched asthma drug Flutiform, and its senior team in the business, pharma and HR media.

Louise Fish, who was drafted in by Portland to head the health practice earlier this year, will lead the six-figure account alongside Portland MD Tim Allan and partner Oliver Pauley.

Fish joined Portland from the NHS Confederation, where she had been director of comms and engagement. The Portland team, which was approached by the pharma giant, will report directly to Georg Toufar, chief marketing officer and board director at Mundipharma International.

The account, previously held by Fleishman-Hillard, marks the first client win for Portland Health.

Its new department aims to combine political, media and digital expertise to support businesses in the health and social care sectors, as they adapt to the changes created as part of healthcare reforms and regulation.